This year, a cross-border cooperation project “Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring in Urban Lakes Using Smart Buoys (LAKES GO DIGITAL)” has been launched in Latvia and Lithuania. The main objective of the project is to ensure sustainable management of urban lakes by introducing innovative, technology-based monitoring approaches.
Within the project, autonomous smart buoys will be deployed in urban water bodies to enable real-time data collection on changes in water quality and to allow early identification of potential pollution risks. The monitoring system will enhance public access to up-to-date information while strengthening the institutional capacity of municipalities in the field of environmental governance.
To provide broader insight into the project’s progress and current developments, we invite you to explore the latest newsletter (No. 2) developed within the framework of the “Lakes Go Digital” project. It includes information on lake ecosystem services, the parameters being analyzed, and the next phase of project implementation.
In this issue, we explain how lakes function as socio-ecological systems: they provide drinking water, reduce flood risks, store carbon, sustain biodiversity, and shape local identity. At the same time, these services are highly sensitive to pollution, climate change, and anthropogenic pressures.
The project introduces a digital monitoring approach: smart buoys will be installed in six lakes across Latvia and Lithuania to continuously monitor key ecological parameters (water level, temperature, oxygen, nutrients, microorganisms, etc.). This approach will:
– enable early identification of ecological risks,
– strengthen flood and water resource management planning,
– ensure transparent public access to water quality information,
– support data-driven decision-making rather than reactive responses to consequences.
Importantly, each lake has its own context – protected area, urban lake, cultural and historical landscape, or artificial water body. Implementing a unified technology across diverse ecosystems will allow the development of a comparable and practically applicable knowledge base.
Following the end of the winter season, the project will move into the next phase – the installation of smart buoys. We invite you to follow the project’s development to learn how to strengthen the connection between ecological data, municipal planning, and public well-being.
The project is implemented by:
Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology
National Regional Development Agency (Lithuania)
Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia
Mykolas Romeris University
Project funder: Interreg Latvia–Lithuania Cross-Border Cooperation Programme